Portland Timbers and D.C. United play to 1 all draw in a match that features just about everything

View full sizeKip Kesgard, community bloggerSomebody was enjoying her small bit of fame before the Portland Timbers - D.C. United match in escorting out the players. I certainly noticed.

As
I was driving to Devereaux Field in Vancouver, WA mid morning on September 30
for my outdoor match in the Over 40 2nd Division of the Greater
Portland Soccer District, I was still fuming about the Portland Timbers – D.C.
United match from the preceding evening.
It was an emotional night that featured horrendous officiating,
objectionable conduct from the crowd, one half of flat and uninspired play from
both sides, and an
insane second half culminated with another late Timbers comeback to earn a 1
all draw against D.C. United. While
fans could get excited at the fact that Portland
remained undefeated in their last five matches at home, this match will be
mostly remembered for the officiating and spirited play. Despite the fact that these two teams play in
different conferences and have only met twice prior to the September 29 match,
there was ferocity at points that reminded me of a derby match.

With
Kris Boyd out for the season and Diego Chará nursing a groin injury which
nearly recovered enough that he was considered for this match, Portland stuck
to some familiar names to fill their starting eleven. Goalkeeper Joe Bendik would make his third
consecutive start in goal, while Jake Gleeson had recovered enough from his
hand injury to be listed as his backup.
On the defensive line, the familiar names of Kosuke Kimura, David Horst,
Hanyer Mosquera and Steven Smith were listed, with Rodney Wallace and Jewsbury
slotted as defensive midfielders just in front of them. Forward Bright Dike would be the lone
striker, but he would be getting support from his three attacking midfielders
Sal Zizzo, Franck Songo'o and Darlington Nagbe.
The Timbers bench would offer up Danny Mwanga, Mike Fucito, Futty Danso,
Brent Richards, Eric Brunner and Eric Alexander as substitute options along
with Gleeson for Interim Coach Gavin Wilkinson.

View full sizeKip Kesgard, community bloggerTimbers midfielder Franck Songo'o tries his best to block the goal kick after DCU goalkeeper Bill Hamid puts the ball into play. Hamid was so slow in putting the ball back into play in the match's second half that the Timbers Army began to count seconds between him setting up a goal kick and actually putting the ball into play.

D.C.
United was missing their leading scorer, Dwayne DeRosario, who
injured his knee on September 11 in a World Cup qualifier for Canada down in
Panama City, Panama, making him unavailable for the next 4 weeks. In an ironic twist, it was another D.C.
United player that suffered an injury in September 2011 that derailed their
playoff run when forward Chris Pontius broke his leg versus Chivas USA,
but Pontius has returned and provided DCU with a plethora of goals in
2012. With DeRosario out, it would be up
to DCU Coach Ben Olsen to find some offense from his bench, and he chose
Lionard Pajoy, a striker from Colombia
that DCU acquired from Philadelphia
earlier this year. One area that United
has significantly improved upon is their defense, especially the play of Hamid
as he has become the undisputed top goalkeeper for DCU. He's been aided by the defensive play of
Brandon McDonald, Dejan Jakovic and Chris Korb who have been solid for DCU all
season. DCU was hoping to jump into
second place behind Sporting Kansas City with a win in Portland, but they knew they were facing a
Timbers side that is much stronger at home than on the road.

First Half Thoughts: I wished I could say I was impressed with the Timbers in the first half,
but honestly, they came out very flat and uninspired despite the raucous
crowd. DCU provided the early push with
Pontius breaking in on goal in the 3rd minute but Kimura fouled him
just wide of the penalty box for an early chance. Pajoy and DCU midfielder Nick DeLeon also
tried runs on Kimura's side of the pitch early, indicating to me that United
felt they could attack on Kimura and break him down for a goal, but at least
initially, he made some solid defensive plays to clear the ball from danger.

Nagbe just missed wide of goal in the 15th
minute, but on the ensuing counter, Portland had its best early chance when
Zizzo caught the DCU defense napping on a ball out of play, and on a quick
throw in, he found Dike charging at goal but his shot hooked wide of goal. After some back and forth play, Mosquera went
down with an undisclosed injury that required him to be replaced early. Futty Danso came on in the 25th
minute marking his first appearance with the first team since July 21 in Dallas, while Wallace
earned a caution for a hard challenge around the same time. It was later announced that Mosquera had
suffered a light hamstring strain which would be examined further to determine
if he would miss any of the Timbers' upcoming matches.

The remainder of the half saw Portland attempt to
pressure, but either the DCU defense would push the ball out of harm's way or
Hamid would smother the ball for a save eventually. On one particular play in the 45th
minute, Nagbe took a ball deflected off center official Michael Kennedy and
launched it at goal that Hamid stopped with his hands, but the deflection spun
up in the air and towards goal. Hamid tracked the ball and make the second save
before it could find goal, showing great composure and confidence. DCU had the advantage in corner kicks and
dangerous chances with Pontius causing most of the headaches for the Portland defense, but
despite their offensive challenges, the defense was playing fairly well even
with the early change at center back.

View full sizeKip Kesgard, community bloggerTimbers forward Bright Dike and D.C United forward Chris Pontius collide while going after a ball within the Timbers penalty box in the first half of the Timbers - DCU match.

Second Half
Thoughts: Both
sides made no changes although fans were clamoring for DCU to bring on former
Timbers defender Mike Chabala, who was making his first appearance at JELD-WEN
Field after being traded to DCU earlier this year. Chabala spent a few moments before the match
and at halftime waving to the crowd, showing his continued popularity in the Rose City. There was also a bit of buzz at the break as
Timbers fans learned the
Cascadia battle in Vancouver, British Columbia between the Vancouver Whitecaps
and Seattle Sounders FC had just ended in a scoreless draw. The result was good for the Timbers because
it gave Portland the inside track to earning the
Cascadia Cup in 2012 with a win or draw in Seattle in their next match on October
7. Even if they were to lose that match,
they would still have a chance to win the cup when they travel to Vancouver on October 21
for their final road match of 2012, but they couldn't focus on this task until
they completed their second half against DCU, and they would have plenty of
challenges to their fortitude.

Songo'o
threatened with a long run minutes into the second half, while DeLeon tried to
test Bendik from distance, but it appeared that both teams were still unsure of
how to attack their opponents consistently.
Based upon the tight play, it would probably take a glaring mistake or
awesome athletic play to break things open on the score line. While my hope was that it would be an amazing
athletic play by the Timbers to give them the lead, it was a glaring mistake
that gave the visitors the advantage to take the lead. DCU trigged the ball forward in the 59th
minute and found midfielder Perry Kitchen in space. Kitchen, a former collegiate teammate of
Nagbe, pushed a crossing pass into the penalty box while Horst charged at him
in an attempt to block the effort. The
ball passed just under Horst's extended arm and was headed clear by Danso
before DeLeon launched a shot way over goal, leading most everyone to think the
Timbers had earned a goal kick.

Assistant
linesman Craig Lowry, however, ruled the ball had been handled by Horst while
in the penalty box and he signaled Kennedy to let him know of the contact. Upon a quick discussion amongst vocal
protests from the Timbers' players, Kennedy awarded DCU a penalty kick and gave
Danso a caution for dissent for arguing the call. Pontius slotted the kick past Bendik to give
DCU the lead, triggering a cascade of boos and flying objects from the
stands. My wife was the victim of one
onslaught as someone launched a full beer out of the Timbers Army section and
showed many of the photographers near the North End goal line. After
watching the play numerous times from varying angles, I came away with no
discernable evidence that Horst had actually handled the ball if you review the
rules of the game. The trajectory of the pass wasn't altered at all, and
it's virtuously impossible to jump forward while running and not extend your
arm to provide balance, so I can't say it was intentional either.

It
was an unfortunate way for one team to gain an advantage, but unlike previous
situations like this, Portland woke up and started throwing significant
pressure at goal while DCU decided to try and hold on to their lead with a
bunkered approach. Jewsbury nearly
connected with Danso in the 66th minute off a corner kick, but
Danso's header skied over the crossbar.
Kimura broke forward on the wing in the 70th and nearly found
a charging Dike in the box, but Hamid made the save. On the ensuing goal kick, Hamid took his time
putting the ball into play and Songo'o tried to steal the ball away on the
restart, but Kennedy ruled that the ball was still in DCU possession and gave
Franck a caution for interfering with play.
I didn't think
it was a valid call and apparently I wasn't the only one that felt that. Kimura and Songo'o linked up in the 73rd
minute when the Timbers defender found Songo'o loose on the back post, but
Hamid made an acrobatic save while landing on his head. Hamid stayed on the turf for a few minutes to
clear out the cobwebs, but the pressure was coming at him full speed as the
Timbers were angry and swarming.

View full sizeKip Kesgard, community bloggerTimbers forward Bright Dike and defender Futty Danso try to collect the corner kick to put a threat on the DCU goal during the Timbers - DCU match.

The
swarming finally paid off in the 79th minute when Smith launched a
cross into the box that DCU midfielder Marcelo Saragosa initially blocked
away. However, Dike pounced on the loose
ball and sliced it into goal from an incredibly tight angle to tie the score
and send the Timbers Army into a crazed celebration of green smoke. With DCU stunned at losing their lead, Portland continued to
pressure with Nagbe and Smith that was broken up in the 80th minute,
while Wilkinson brought on Mwanga for Kimura to try and push more players
forward. As DCU brought on young forward
Hamdi Salihi for Pajoy to give fresh legs to their attack, Dike nearly gave the
Timbers the lead in the 83rd minute but his header from six yards
out flew past the goal. Jewsbury,
Songo'o and Horst combined on a corner kick in the 87th minute that
led to a Songo'o volley over the bar, while Dike earned another Portland corner kick as
the match hit stoppage time.

Portland
brought on Brent Richards for Zizzo to try and throw more players forward while
Wallace was doing his best to trap and hold onto the ball, but no threats
materialized for either side after the nearly five minutes of stoppage time,
and the game ended in a one all draw.
While the result gave Portland a point
and some confidence heading into their road match in Seattle on October 7, the fact is that the
Timbers will need to play better than this if they have any chance at beating
their rivals to the North.